Instructional Designer, Contract: +Acumen

Instructional Designer, Contract: +Acumen
+Acumen is seeking a creative, self-driven instructional designer to join our team on a contract basis. An ideal candidate will have 3-6 years of experience in education technology or learning design, as well as a passion for tackling poverty.

About Acumen
Acumen is changing the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies, leaders and ideas. We invest patient capital in businesses whose products and services are enabling the poor to transform their lives. Founded by Jacqueline Novogratz in 2001, Acumen has invested more than $103 million in 96 companies across Africa, Latin America and South Asia. We are also developing a global community of emerging leaders with the knowledge, skills and determination to create a more inclusive world. Acumen was named one of Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Not-for-Profit Companies. Learn more atwww.acumen.org and on Twitter @Acumen.

About +Acumen
Our +Acumen team is building a global learning community for social change-makers. +Acumen is a new initiative started in 2012 with the vision of equipping thousands of passionate people with the tools, insights and community to step up and create change. To date +Acumen has reached 400,000 signups from 170 countries through its courses. +Acumen also manages various in-person networks – such as chapters, alumni, and course volunteers – that allow our broader course community to get more involved in supporting Acumen and each other.

Position Summary
+Acumen is seeking a self-driven instructional designer for a contract role to assist with behind-the-scenes research, production, and continued launch of our online Master Class series. In 2016, +Acumen produced online courses with influential figures including bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, NPR host Krista Tippett, marketing guru Seth Godin, head of TED Chris Anderson, business writer Al Pittampalli, and behavioral economist Dan Ariely to share their expertise with social sector leaders through actionable course experiences. Collectively these Master Classes have enrolled over 22,000 students and generated significant revenue to sustain +Acumen’s production of free online courses. See all of the courses +Acumen offers here:http://plusacumen.org/courses/

In 2017, we are scaling up the production of these Master Classes. As an instructional designer, you will work across all stages of course production to conceive, outline design, and build these courses to bring cutting edge ideas from leading thinkers to the social sector. Specific responsibilities include:

1. Research Potential Instructors and Draft Potential Course Pitches and Outlines
• Gain a deep understanding of the Influencer’s areas of expertise by reading their recent books and articles and watching their recent talks. Identify relevant insights that could be developed into a practical online course for social change-makers
• Synthesize insights and scope a tightly developed course summary and outline that can be sent to the influencer to help them understand the vision for the course and get them excited to lend their energy towards supporting the project

2. Lead Project Management for Film Shoots
• Based on the course outline, develop a detailed list of questions and suggested talking points for a 2-3 hour film shoot with the influencer
• Serve as the liaison between a film production crew and Acumen’s video editor.
• Review all raw footage and send editing notes to editor to create 2-5 minutes instructional videos that can be used in the online course
• Note: You will not have to attend the film shoots in person.

3. Build the Course on the Online Learning Platform
• Upload the content assets onto the Udemy platform and build a structured, sequential learning experience for students
• Develop interactive exercises in line with best practices in online pedagogy including downloadable PDF guides with exercises and reflection prompts; formative assessments; and social learning forums to complement the instructional videos and make the experience learner-centered
• Coordinate course approval and publication process with the Udemy platform
• Prepare course marketing collateral including a course landing page, course description, instructor bio, course images and headshots for circulation to +Acumen Marketing Lead and Udemy’s Marketing and Growth teams

Who You Are
• You have a Bachelor’s Degree and ideally a Master’s Degree in education technology or learning design
• You can read, write and synthesize ideas quickly and skillfully
• You have experience transforming content into an online learning experience
• You have experience managing complex projects with various stakeholders and are comfortable working independently
• You are intensely curious about the world and passionate about making it a better place for all
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S.

Additional characteristics we look for in all roles at Acumen:
• Commitment to and enthusiasm for the organization’s mission to change the way the world tackles poverty, and respect for our core values: generosity, accountability, humility, audacity, listening, leadership, integrity and respect
• Ability to thrive when there is ambiguity, remain cool-headed when there are curve balls, and withstand the tests of a rapidly changing environment with resilience and resolve
• A sense of humor (really)

2. Imagine you are pitching Jacqueline to sign on to build an hour-long online course with you. Your goal is to attract a wide audience of course participants who want to become more active and effective at creating social change.

3. Create a one-page course proposal that contains the course topic, one paragraph course description, learning objectives, and outline of modules and activities.